The NRP Group aims to start construction next year on a two-building, 323-unit apartment development in Cleveland's Detroit Shoreway neighborhood, just south of the company's Edison at Gordon Square project.
(BKV Group; Cleveland City Planning Commission)

The Cleveland-based developer is plotting a two-building, 323-unit apartment project on roughly four acres at Breakwater Avenue and West 58th Street. That site sits just south of the Edison, which opened last year, and is flanked by two modest, for-sale townhome developments called Breakwater Bluffs and Cyan Park.

Early designs approved Friday by the Cleveland City Planning Commission show two four-story apartment buildings south of Breakwater, between West 58th and West 65th streets. A corridor lined with seating and public art will break up the block, leading pedestrians to Herman Park and between existing and planned bicycle trails.

The garage, attached to the westernmost building, is likely to be screened with greenery and murals, with a first-floor bicycle area and dog wash for residents.

A neighborhood overview shows how NRP's two planned apartment buildings, south of Breakwater Avenue, would fit between the Edison, Herman Park and two for-sale townhouse projects.BKV Group; Cleveland City Planning Commission

Aaron Pechota, NRP's senior vice president of development, wouldn't disclose the anticipated cost of the project. He also wouldn't say what NRP expects to pay for the property, a longtime industrial site the developer has a contract to buy.

Construction could start next year and take 20 to 24 months, he said.

"We've had enough success where we said, 'Hey, we should do some more of this,'" Pechota told commission members. "The neighborhood is doing great."

Positioned as phase two of NRP's investment in Detroit Shoreway, the plan packs more apartments onto a site that's less than half the size of the Edison's footprint. The developer expects the new buildings to accommodate 500 to 600 residents - nearly 200 of them dog owners.

During an interview, Pechota said he isn't concerned about demand for apartments petering out.

"Relative to other markets we're in, we're still heavily undersupplied," he said, comparing Cleveland with other cities where NRP is building or managing rentals. "We're really replacing antiquated housing."

A site plan shows how a pedestrian corridor will bifurcate the project, running between one of the apartment buildings and the parking garage.BKV Group; Cleveland City Planning Commission

And though the apartments, like the Edison and most other ground-up projects in Cleveland, will be high-end, NRP plans to incorporate some lower-cost units into the buildings. Pechota said it's too early to say what those units might look like - or what sort of rent tenants might pay.

Advertised rents at the Edison start at $1,250 a month for a one-bedroom unit, according to the property's website.

"In all of the markets that we're in, affordability is a big issue, and that means different things to different people. ... We're going to do it. Exactly how it looks, I don't know," he said, confirming that NRP is talking to Councilman Matt Zone and the nonprofit Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization about ways to encourage a range of residential development in the neighborhood.

"I think we need more people with disposable income living in our city," Zone said during the planning meeting, "but, at the same time, we need to balance that out and have a mixed-income portfolio."

Zone expects more discussion about the NRP project to occur during a community meeting Oct. 25. The development plans will need additional public approvals, including a final vote from the planning commission.